Pope Francis to Debut Pop-Rock Album

The leader of the Catholic Church will drop a progressive rock album in November to spread his message of “hope, faith and unity,” according to Rolling Stone.

News of the album release breaks as Pope Francis is in the United States discussing climate change, criticizing capitalism, and the death penalty and asking Americans to accept illegal immigration.

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Titled Wake Up! the album will feature Pope Francis delivering hymns and excerpts of his most “moving speeches” in multiple languages, including Italian, English, Spanish and Portuguese.

The 11 track LP will address issues such as peace, dignity, environmental concerns and helping those in need, by using musical accompaniments ranging from pop-rock to Gregorian chant, Rolling Stone reports.

The album will be available starting November 27th, according to Believe Digital.

A digital copy of “Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!” which the Pope debuted Friday on Rolling Stone’s website, is available now with an iTines pre-order.

Listen to the song below:

Artistic director Don Giulio Neroni spoke to RS about arranging the album, saying “For many years, I’ve been the producer and the artistic director of albums by the Pope. I had the honor to work with John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis.

He added; “As in the past, for this album too, I tried to be strongly faithful to the pastoral and personality of Pope Francis: the Pope of dialogue, open doors, hospitality. For this reason, the voice of Pope Francis in Wake Up! dialogues music. And contemporary music (rock, pop, Latin etc.) dialogues with the Christian tradition of sacred hymns.”